Dr Earle, world-renowned for her tireless advocacy to address the many threats to our ocean, will bring a voice in her keynote on November 15 at 13.00 EST to the most critical stakeholders missing from the global ocean conservation movement: aquatic animals.
"Treating ocean wildlife as commodities, measured by the ton and taken with industrial indifference, is not only inhumane, but is destroying the vital processes that underpin our existence – from carbon capture to oxygen generation," said Dr Earle.
Conference agenda
This year’s conference, held virtually from November 15-18, is happening at a critical juncture to elevate public awareness of aquatic animal sentience and the importance of taking their welfare into consideration as the global community works toward achieving the ambitions of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
“There has never been a more important time to create the necessary conditions to transition to truly just food systems,” said William Bench, founder and president of the Aquatic Life Institute. “Aquatic animals have been historically left out of the animal welfare movement and our goal is to generate awareness of these issues across all sectors in order to dramatically improve the treatment and utilisation of aquatic animals. We’re honoured to have Dr Earle join us for this timely conversation.”
The four major themes covered this year are:
- Fish welfare
- Campaign & policy
- Neglected research areas & species
- Sustainability, conservation and food systems.
Event details
Experts from marine and ocean conservation groups, the private sector, and the media as well as speakers from outside the animal welfare community will participate in four days of presentations, panels, strategy workshops and networking opportunities to allow all interested stakeholders to come together to learn, exchange ideas, develop new networks and establish plans for potential future collaborations.
Other featured speakers at the 2nd Aquatic Life Conference include:
- Dr Lynne Sneddon, senior lecturer, Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, the University of Gothenburg
- Rob Fletcher, senior editor, The Fish Site
- Kathy Hessler, Clinical Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School
- Shannon Davis, aquaculture welfare specialist, Global Animal Partnership (GAP)
- Mandla Gqamlana, programmes director, Coalition of African Animal Welfare Organisations
- Chris Kerr, founding partner and chief investment officer, Unovis
- Miles Woodruff, CEO and co-founder, Sophie’s Kitchen
All details of the event, including agenda, speakers and registration are available here.
